I may have convinced my best friend's husband to trade in his Z3 for a MINI. The idea of the Brew Swap may have pushed him over the edge. He was very jealous as well as impressed with the contents of our 2 spare fridges!
Ok, tonight I had the St George Brewing Company Porter. YUMMMY!!!! I want more of this, who brought it???
DH had our last Yuengling Black and Tan, much enjoyed!
I'm trying to work out the logistics of next year's swap
I'm pretty sure everything I brought was non-pastuerized and that's why it is kept cold at the local bottle shop. I asked in advance if I could get some warm in order to avoid the hauling of coolers and ice, but was told they all come in refridgerated trucks so cold was the only way to get them. Maybe next year I can contact the breweries directly and get promotional items in the process........

Annette

 

A lot of microbrews don't pasteurize their stuff so it has to stay cold. I'm hoping next year's swap brings more room temp beer and less cold beer.

 

my friend, you must learn the virtues of brewing your own!

You will find it harder and harder to buy beer when you can make it yourself in 5-12 gallon batches! especially when it tastes so damn good. Even better is the extra bonus you get when the ABV (alcohol percentage, again I have been drinking so I must smartly describe everything!) is way higher than the average crap you have to buy at the stores by 1.5 to 2 times sometimes!

chris

 

I smell a new thread in OT!

I've never brewed beer, but my friend and I once made peach wine, and forgot about it for 2+ years. When we eventually retrieved it from his parents' basement, basically all of the sugars had turned to alcohol, and rather than wine to be served by the glass, we ended up with a cloudy orange beverage than it was more advisable to take shots of. We did eventually drink all 5 gallons of it, though!

 

My pics from the swap:

Some of the Michigan contingent including (L to R) The Wrks, his wife, my girlfriend and Driskill Jr.





The Wrks, appearing surprised to have a beer:





A participant whose name I don't recall:

 

As you'd undoubtedly seen already, there are several brewpubs in the PHX area. Four Peaks is one of the better non-chains, as I recall. I like Gordon Biersch, too; not bad (for a chain).

 

That would be Leif (Born2Slow), who was there with OmToast. Pretty sweet setup those guys had over there; I was sharing a 2'x2' mini table with two other people.

 

One of the things to improve for next year is tables so hopefully that'll be resolved.

Brian, I loved Gordon Biersch when I went to the one in New Orleans in early April. Thanks for reminding me they are here. I need to bring the wife there for their cake.

And I will be checking out the microbrews soon. I should be meeting up with Tuls this week at the Yard House where I'll sample another couple beers from their 100+ draft selection.

 

Awww... there's my Schmoopie!

Night before last I decided would be Scotch Ale night for Leif and I: he got the Weyerbacher and I nabbed the Dirty Bastard. Sipped mine first -- yum! Then I tried his -- YUM!

Both were very strong and heavy. Dirty Bastard was a tad more sweet, so I found I preferred the Weyerbacher. Conveniently Leif, after sampling both, preferred the Dirty Bastard, as he thought it not quite as strong as the Weyerbacher. So we swapped.

After several sips, however, he abandoned the Dirty Bastard for a Carolina Blonde (very yummy Pilsner -- actually has taste!) proclaiming himself "not the Scotch Ale type"

So I drank both.

'Twas a good evening for all.

 

Matt, I'd also like to say thanks for a great event. And also to every one else who helped. Thank you. And last but not least, the pre swap BBQ was a blast! The food was terrific. Thank you Mini2Go and BoCRon.

Please tell Heidi it was very nice speaking with her during the event setup. I hope the two of you have a smooth move to AZ and I hope that you have fun on the other side of the table

Alas, I did have one casualty the night of the swap. I can't remember which bottle it was, but I know for a fact it was one that I was really looking forward to drinking. Perhaps it was a barley wine? Sure smelled great after the bottle busted I guess this means I'll have to return next year

 

I traditionally drink one beer a night but ever since the Brew Swap, I can't seem to stop at just one. Sampling all these great beers is just too much fun. I had one of the Capital Brewery beers last night and I must say it was great.

 

I've finally gotten around to trying a few of my brew swap beers! I live with roommates who can be unscrupulous at times, so I have to be careful about what I leave in the fridge - most of my swap beers are still in my room.

Yards IPA - very tasty!
Ybor Gold malt lager - I usually shy away from the maltier offerings, but I really like this one. I would not have guessed that Florida would produce good beer.
Creemore Springs Premium Lager - WOW! This is my favorite so far. Really, really tasty, and quite hoppy for a lager. Did someone actually bring this all the way from Ontario? Whoever brought it, many thanks!

 

Big Daddy - "Don"- brought the excellent Creemore Lager.

Our latest was the St. George's Nut Brown Ale. Kind of reminded me of my Lienie's Dark Lager. Definately a winner!

 

I"m glad to see I'm not the only one still sitting back and enjoying having the opportunity to go "which one will it be tonight!?"

Heidi & I are planning on flying in next year on the Thursday and staying till Sunday and flying back. Don't know where we'll stay or what just yet but we should be able to run the Brew Swap again this time with the assistance of Collin & Dean from GSM. Going to try to make this a yearly event held by GSM. I'm seriously going to start working on the plans this summer.

Tonight I am sucking down the Double Dragon Ale from Wales brought to me ny minivern (ann) from Chattanooga. It's one of the few beers I have had that gets better as I drink more of it. And it isn't due to intoxication cause it's only 4.2% abv. I had the Centennial IPA last night and it was good but towards the end it got very spicy.

This year we had 2 Canadians who brought beer. Next year I hope we can get a couple more Canadians to come down. And more west coasters.

Paul it was our pleasure to put the event on. I'll pass along your kind words to Heidi. She'll be arriving out here next Thursday. Till then I am alone. But I have my beer.

My new job is pretty great so far. The biggest difference, aside from the professionalism, is the wonderful work atmosphere. Such a drastic difference from the gloom of my of my former workplace. It also helps to have this nice view from our lobby.

 

Great looking view! Sure beats the view from my office

 

You sure you're in AZ, Matt? I see clouds! ;-)

 

Boy, Randy, are we psychic or what....I just had the St. George's Porter last night and must say it is my favorite dark beer so far.

Chrisneal...glad you liked the Creemore. It is one of my favorite beers, but, being unpasteurized with all natural ingredients, must be drank within a couple of weeks for optimum tasting pleasure (btw, that has never been an issue in our house )

 

With all the hoopla, I didn't get to show off my you-ified Electric Blue cooler very much. I made it special just for this!

 

Nice, Paul. Love the bonnet stripes.

 

That's AWESOME!!!!
Be careful. You might start getting orders for these in various MINI colors.

 

That is really cool, Definatly need to have those for sale Offical beer swap cooler

 

Dittos! The bonnet stripes are a great touch!

 

Well it's about that time. To to replace the signature with a new one. Craig has been kind enough to draw up some new sigs for our 2nd annual brew swap next year.

I have more designs so if you'd like to see them please email me and I'll send them to ya.

Also, if anyone wanted a Brew Swap shirt and didn't get one, here's what you can do. Email me or PM me and let me know how many you'd want and what size. If we can get enough orders together we can make another run.

Back to the beer, so last night I hung out with Tuls & Stoopid Girl at the Yard House. Twas very nice. I had 4 pints. I had the Stone IPA, New Belgium Fat Tire, Pyramid Apricot Ale & Racer 5(don't know the maker if that last one). The Stone and Racer were VERY hoppy (spicy) but good. The Fat Tire was very smooth and obviously the apricot was fruitily delicious. Back to drinking whats in the fridge for the rest of the weekend.

Take care
matt

 

After a long day cutting fire wood Marsha and I decided to taste another swap beer. Today it was the Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat. Wheat beers aren't usually our favorites so we were a little apprehensive about this one but it turned out to be very good. Kind of light, sweet, very fruity and refreshing. I'm not sure who brought it, but thanks very much.


Also, before I forget, I wanted to compliment CustomAV. His homebrew samples were very tasty indeed.

 

Good news, all. I have already convinced my girlfriend to join me next year for MOTD. Can I pre-register (ha!) for the 2nd annual brew swap??? I wanted to get in line early, so as to not miss all the fun.